East Tennessee students plan #NationalWalkout events on Columbine massacre anniversary

Students from the Florida high school where 17 people were fatally shot last month say they expect as many as 1 million participants in upcoming marches in Washington and elsewhere calling for gun regulations.
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Lenoir City High School students sit out of class to protest gun violence on Feb. 20, 2018. A student-planned 17-minute walkout at the school led to an all-day discussion.(Photo: Michael Patrick/News Sentinel)Buy Photo

East Tennessee students are planning protests for National Student Walkout Day, a nationwide event on Friday marking the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting that claimed 13 lives and those of the two shooters who killed themselves.

The walkout is a student-led protest of congressional failure to pass legislation that participants say would reduce gun violence.

Similar walkouts have occurred since a deadly shooting in February that led to the death of 14 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students and three school staff members. Seventeen more were injured.

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Several large progressive organizations, donors, and a high-powered public relations firm are backing the March for Our Lives movement, which is quickly evolving from a student-run social media effort to end gun violence into one backed by some of the most influential activists in the country. In the days after the shooting in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 people, the teenage survivors of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School were impossible to ignore. They blanketed cable news coverage, built a massive following on social media, and began to organize a rally in the country's capital in support of gun reform.
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Nationalschoolwalkout.net, a website launched by four Ridgefield High School students in Connecticut, allows students and teachers across the country to register protests happening at their schools on the site.

So far, walkout events are scheduled for eight East Tennessee schools.

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Maryville College student Jacob Williams explains they are writing messages about "how they will create peace with themselves and their community" during the National School Walkout Wednesday, March 14, 2018 in Maryville, Tenn.
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Several Knoxville schools are planning events

In Knoxville, events are reportedly planned at L&N STEM Academy, West High School, Farragut High School, Gresham Middle School and Knoxville Catholic High School.

Knox County Schools spokeswoman Carly Harrington at first said she was unaware of any planned walkouts in the school district, but that schools would not be conducting state testing Friday, just in case.

She then informed USA TODAY NETWORK-Tennessee on Thursday that media would not be allowed on any of the Knox County Schools campuses for the event.

L&N STEM Academy senior James Schafer said students are still working on their plan for the national walkout, but so far students are planning to report to their first class and then walk out at 10 a.m.

Schafer said so far, the students plan to include signs, speakers, voter registration for students who are old enough, and a march to Market Square in the days' events.

West High School students are planning to leave class at 10 a.m. and gather on the school baseball field, where there will also be speakers, voters registration opportunities for older students, and an opportunity to write to Congressional representatives.

Zoe Brookshire-Risley, one of the West High student organizers, said students are encouraged to return to class after the rally to continue the conversation about gun violence prevention.

She said West's walkout is one of 2,500 registered walkouts nationally.

"The goal of the School Walkout is to send a clear message to our politicians that we demand change. We also strive to amplify student voices and emphasize the importance of voting," she said.

Farragut High School Principal Ryan Siebe declined comment on students' plans at his school.

Gresham Middle School eighth-grader Parker Feagins organized the walkout at his school. Last time, after the Parkland shooting, he said, about 300 students attended, despite threats of suspension from school officials.

This time, he said, he expects between 350 and 400 students from the more than 900-person student body will attend.

"We are told it's only supposed to be 20 minutes," Feagins said. "Faculty is aware of it but they haven't made a statement to the student body this time."

He said students were using Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat to organize the event.

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Maryville College student and event leader Jacob Williams, center with mic, reads the name and comments about one of the 17 killed in Florida recently as other strudents and staff participate in National School Walkout Wednesday, Mar. 14, 2018 in Maryville, Tenn.(Photo: Michael Patrick/News Sentinel)

'We shouldn't be afraid to go to school'

"We shouldn't be afraid to go to school," Feagins said. "I'm going to try to get our legislators to respond since they won't respond to our calls, and I'm going to try to help the other middle-schoolers understand what's going on in the political sphere right now," he said.

Events at Lenior City High School, Northview Senior Academy in Kodak, and Clayton-Bradley Academy in Maryville are also listed.

Lenoir City High School Principal Charles Orr said he had not heard anything about walkouts on Friday. He said the school is in the middle of state testing.

"If something were to happen, then we would have to discourage them and try to stop it, because it would interrupt state testing," Orr said.

He added that the school administration worked with students after the Parkland massacre in February so that they could demonstrate "in a controlled manner."

Northview Senior Academy Principal Greg Clark said he knew someone put the school's name on the list but "did not know who it was," declining further comment.

A spokeswoman for Sevier County Schools did not return a call for comment.

Maryville school's 'interactive installation'

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Students at Sevier County High School walk out onto the football field at 10 a.m. in tribute to the 17 victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, in Sevierville Wednesday, March 14, 2018.(Photo: Caitie McMekin/News Sentinel)

At Clayton-Bradley Academy in Maryville, school administrators are supporting student protest plans. Rebecca Wolfenbarger, Upper School principal, said school administrators want students to "learn the tools of a solid discourse and protest."

Siena Spanyer, a Clayton-Bradley junior, said about 20 high school students have decided to make an interactive installation in the field next to the high school.

"We heard about the national walkout and we wanted to be a part of this, but in a bigger way than just walking out of class, because we didn't think everyone would want to participate," Spayner said.

So, the students approached one of their teachers, Scott Hussey, who presented the idea on their behalf to the school administration.

"They told us they'd be willing to work with us as long as we didn't surprise them," Spayner said.

On Friday morning, Spayner and the other students will place 199 empty chairs outside their school building to represent all of the school shootings that have occurred since Columbine.

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Twelve students and a teacher were shot to death at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. They will never be forgotten.
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Each chair will feature a piece of paper or poster board with the date, school, city and number of people killed or injured in the respective shooting.

"In our lifetime these things have happened," Spayner said. "We don't have any specific policies we are trying to promote or get passed but we are trying to raise awareness of this issue and push Congress to enact some legislation that will hopefully reduce the number of school shootings in the future."